In 1916 that the German Government appealed to loyal Germans to donate their gold jewelry to the war effort in a campaign called the “Iron Time”. Various items were given in exchange for gold, including iron wedding rings, iron medallions, and iron watch chains. This is an example of an Iron Time watch chain for men. The various plaques read “in eiserner zeit 1916" [in iron time 1916], “gold zur wehr” [gold to the resistance 1916] and “eisen zur ehr” [iron to honor]